For a more in-depth and professional article, check out Pinkbike’s coverage here: Pinkbike First Look: Zoceli Vysoko I’m just doing this for fun.
Who is Zoceli
Zoceli is a Czhech based bike manufacturer that specializes in building some BEAUTIFUL steel frames. Their frames are seriously some of the best looking things I’ve seen.
Just take a look at the Naosm, their enduro frame. Check out the rest of their lineup on their website:
With the current state of the industry its awesome to see companies like this going strong and making amazing products like this.
All of the frames are hand made by Martin Saida. When I say hand made, I mean the entire process from concept, to design, to actually welding the frames together is all handled by Martin.
The New Zoceli VYSOKO
Alright, quit oggling the frames. Lets talk about the newest release in the Zoceli lineup.
Today, they released a short YouTube video featuring the VYSOKO and you can immediately see what makes this bike different than other high pivot designs out right now.
WHERE’S THE CHAIN??
No, not that chain…where’s the chain that’s connecting the cranks to the pulley? Sure, it would be easy to just not route the chain down to the cranks and say, “Hey we made a bike with ZERO pedal kick”. I’m sure some people would still buy that. That is not what’s going on here though.
Martin’s design immediately catches the eye and from the short drop test in that video we can see it really does have incredible minimal pedal kick.
Why Do This?
Alright folks, A LOT of people have been asking WHY. First of all, stop asking questions and just look at the damn bike, its cool, that’s like 80% of the reason I like bikes.
With that out of the way, lets get into it. I’m going to go through what I assume to be the line of thinking here. Let me know if I’m wrong.
“Why this over a regular high pivot?” – You
To explain that, lets talk about the high pivot design.
- High pivots are limited by the chain/efficiency on where the actual pivot goes. If you look at MOST other high pivots, the idler is much lower.
“Okay, so we can get rid of that issue by using two chains, so what?” – You
I’ll tell you what, and I don’t like your attitude.
- By separating the drives into a main and secondary you have a lot more freedom in terms of suspension design. In the case of the Vysoko, the idler is almost fully in line with the pivot point of the axle.
“So in basic terms, while regular high pivots split the difference between eliminating chain growth and maintaining efficiency this bike focuses on almost completely eliminating chain growth?” – You
Exactly! You also have the added benefit of being able to design a more rearward axle path allowing the bike to feel smoother through the rough stuff.
Side note: if you wanted to COMPLETELY separate the two, theoretically you could add a freewheel/hub system to the idler drive though this would likely cause some noticeable downsides to things like anti-squat and efficiency.
“So that’s it? Is there anything else?” – You
What? That’s not enough for you? Alright, well an additional small benefit is the derailleur is now being pulled upward allowing it to be moved further away from the ground and away from rocks and small children in your path.
Does the VYSOKO Not Have a Chain?
Obviously it has a chain.
As you may have guessed (or at least I hope you guessed) the connection from the pulley to the cranks is made internally.
This allows for an incredibly stable bike that “gives you the opportunity to really take advantage of the high situated pivot” as Zoceli says.
Zoceli also states that the hidden chain on the VYSOKO should have a much longer life span than a typical chain as its protected from the elements.
We will see how difficult the hidden chain and crank system end up being to work on. Without getting hands on the bike I’m going to give Zoceli the benefit of the doubt and say it won’t be too bad.
Does the VYSOKO Need a Special Cranks?
Apparently not, that was my second question after “where the hell’s the chain”. Zoceli states that the VYSOKO uses e-bike cranks (with the ISIS Interface). Though unfortunately named, the crank/spindle technology is far from special and is readily available thanks to the growth in e-bike popularity.
As far as the bottom bracket is concerned, the bike comes with that already so you don’t have to worry about it. Although not explicitly mentioned, what I assume is going on is that Martin took an e-bike BB (like the hilariously named TURBO ISIS) and welded a sprocket on to that puppy.
How’s that Geo?
The geometry looks SICK. With a 63 degree head tube angle and 79 degree seat tube angle you end up with a mouth watering 455mm reach (size M). This chart looks like what every person way better than me says is good, so I also will say its good.
The bike is also available in full 29 and mixed wheel options. Did I mention these things are handmade?
Buy One and Let Me Borrow It
No seriously, I’m in Colorado but I’ll fly out wherever. You can hop on my Trek Roscoe 0.5, its pretty much the same thing. Go check Zoceli out, here’s another link: